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Difficulty: Moderate

Introduction

Chipped bricks, a stained hearth, and years of accumulated soot can turn what should be the focal point of a living room into an eyesore. Replacing a hearth and surround—either with seamless tone slabs or with ceramic or stone tiles—makes a big difference in the way a fireplace looks.

On these pages, Dan McLaughlin, with help from carpenter Thad King, shows how to replace an old quarry-tile hearth and cover a brick surround with four sleek granite slabs, each 1¼ inches think. It took McLaughlin and King just a few days work to rejuvenate this fireplace and reinstall the existing mantel. Installing a tile surround might take a bit longer, but there's less heavy lifting than with stone.